witness
Collocations
36(noun.) person who sees sth
ADJ
eye (also eyewitness)
A witness at the accident gave police a detailed description of what happened.
crucial, key, material, vital
The police officer became a crucial witness after she saw the accident happen from her car window.
independent | credible, reliable, unimpeachable | unreliable
VERB + WITNESS
appeal for
Detectives appealed for witnesses after the accident happened on the busy street.
trace
Detectives worked hard to trace witnesses who had seen the accident on the highway.
WITNESS + VERB
come forward
After the accident, several witnesses came forward to describe what they had seen.
WITNESS + NOUN
account, statement
PREP
~ to
She was a witness to the car accident that happened outside her office building last week.
(noun.) in a court of law
ADJ
chief, main, principal
The principal witness told the court exactly what she had seen that night.
hostile | reluctant, unwilling | defence | prosecution, state | expert | character | civilian, police
VERB + WITNESS
call
The prosecution called several witnesses to testify about what they saw that night.
appear as
He appeared as a witness at the trial to describe what he saw that night.
swear in | cross-examine, examine, interrogate, interview, question | hear | discredit
intimidate, threaten
The gang members tried to intimidate a key witness before the trial began.
suborn
The prosecutor discovered that the defendant had tried to suborn key witnesses before the trial began.
WITNESS + VERB
take the stand
A nervous teenager took the stand to describe what she had seen at the accident.
give evidence, testify | make a statement, state sth
identify sb
A witness was able to identify the suspect from the security camera footage.
WITNESS + NOUN
box, stand | summons
PHRASES
a witness for the defence/prosecution
(noun.) of a signature
VERB + WITNESS
act as
WITNESS + VERB
sign
PREP
~ to
My neighbor agreed to be a witness to the accident that happened outside our house.